The women's ice hockey team can be said to have one major disadvantage compared to its ECAC opponents this year: out of 16 team members, only seven are upperclassmen. However, the young age of the 2000-2001 Jeff squad can also be called a blessing in disguise. The nine talented younger members on the team-two sophomores and seven freshmen-have come to the conference ready to play, and will likely surprise many opponents in this year's campaign in their mission to improve on last year's 8-13-1 record.
This year's squad boasts only four returning starters-two on offense and two on defense. Goalie Heidi Alexander '03 anchored the Jeffs in net last year, stopping over 90 percent of the shots that came her way. Co-captain Hilary Zwerdling '02 was sidelined for the second half of last year's season due to a broken foot, but she will return to her place in the Jeff defensive unit this year.
With Alexander and Zwerdling as the defensive mainstays, Head Coach Kay Cowperthwait has added a trio of rookies to the Jeff defensive effort. Freshmen Pam Burkardt, Elissa Landes and Amanda Muller are expected to contribute on defense and will join Zwerdling and Alexander behind the red line.
"I've been told that this year's team is stronger than last year's in every respect," said Burkardt. "Even though we are low in numbers, I think we will be better than last year."
On offense, Co-captain Gretchen Bowe '01 and Danielle Williams '03 will lead the young attack. Last year, Williams posted a rookie season that turned heads, notching 18 goals and 10 assists. Williams will face an early challenge-she is the only one of the top 11 scorers from last year's squad returning to play for the full year.
Bowe will be unable to play for the first month of the season, because of a torn ACL that she suffered during her All-American field hockey season. But Bowe's return will be felt immediately for the Jeffs. Last season, Bowe was the Jeffs' leading scorer, on pace to set an all-time school scoring record with 22 goals and 18 assists.
Two of Cowperthwait's scattered upperclassmen, Robin Ackerman '02 and Sarah O'Keefe '02, will only be playing for the first month of the season, before going abroad for the spring semester.
The shifting of the veteran offensive roster a month into the season-from Ackerman, O'Keefe and Williams to Bowe and Williams-will allow the freshman class to see a lot of playing time, especially later in the season. First-years Bess Kargman, Katie Potter, Tory Serues and Alison White will be contributing heavily to the Jeff offensive effort. Rounding out the Jeff offense are Michele Murphy '02, who is abroad for the first semester, and Jamie Ratner '02.
"Our weakest asset is the size of our team. We have two solid lines, but most college teams have four," commented Williams. "This can be difficult as the games are long and the team gets tired at the end."
The Jeffs had two chances to unveil their new lineup during the road games that took place the first weekend of Thanksgiving Break, but the squad was unable to work out opening-weekend bugs. In the opening game Amherst fell to the University of Vermont (UVM) 8-0, and in their second effort the Jeffs lost to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in a 5-2 heartbreaker.
On Nov. 18 in Burlington, six different Catamounts scored against the Jeffs. UVM, a school hoping to move up to Division I status next year, took a 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back, scoring three times in the second period and three more times in the third period.
In that game Alexander had a solid game in net as she notched 37 saves for the Jeffs.
The next day, the Jeffs traveled to Troy, N.Y. to take on the RPI Engineers. Although they left the rink down three goals and two games, the Amherst squad began to show signs of life against RPI. For the first time they were able to generate a substantial offensive attack.
White and Williams scored the first two goals of the season for the team. White's goal, Amherst's first for the season, came off an assist from Potter 2:59 into the first period. Hopefully this connection is indicative of things to come later in Amherst's 2000-2001 campaign.
With the Jeffs down 3-1 late in the second period, Williams netted the puck off a pair of touch passes from White and Zwerdling. However, the Jeffs were unable to keep the Engineers off the scoreboard and they ran away with the game by scoring the next two goals, leaving the final score at 5-2. Alexander had 32 saves in another solid effort between the pipes.
"RPI was a good game that could have gone either way," said Williams. "There were so many penalties called that it did take away from play."
Williams added that the Little III will be the season's biggest games. "In my mind the biggest games are the Little III schools, Wesleyan [University] and Williams [College]. We beat Wesleyan last year and lost to Williams, so we would like to win both," she said.
Zwerdling expressed hope for the 2000-2001 campaign and for the future of the program. "Our strongest asset is the youth of the team," she said. "Now we have a core group of players who are dedicated to the team and are passionate about having a winning season."
The Jeffs will play three more away games before winter break, starting with a game at Hamilton College this weekend.
The home opener for the Jeffs will be on Jan. 6, when they will host Union College. Ten of their 13 subsequent games will be played at home, climaxing with a critical matchup against Williams College on the last Sunday in January.